I’m sure you — like me — find it frustrating as a business leader to read the stories about Vonage and how the company’s future is in question after it being such a highly regarded VOIP pioneer. It’s hard understand how a company that traveled so far is so beset by issues with patents and internal strife.

As it stands now, Vonage can still serve current customers, but can’t seek new customers in accordance with the federal judge’s ruling earlier this month.

Vonage quickly said it will come up with a workaround for its patent infringements in regard to Verizon, but the bigger question is how can a company survive so many setbacks?

And how did the company get to this place, in the first place?

Oftentimes we’re so focused on building our company that we forget companies exist to serve customers. At the end of the day, your customers are what keep your company vital, growing and future-focused.

One of the lessons we can all take from Vonage whether it is able to overcome the current challenges or not, is that hubris even if you’re a first mover in a market is a bad thing.

It is a tactical error to assume that you’ll always be the leader, you don’t have to respond to customers, and that throwing money at marketing endeavors to acquire more customers will keep you the leader.

Customers are the single most important asset your company can nurture. Of course, any company always wants to garner more customers, but frankly if you work really hard to keep the ones you have and be consistently honest in how you deal with them, you’re way ahead of the game at the end of the day.

Vonage users are now struggling with their devotion to Vonage and the glitches even in the VOIP system, with their need to have a company that will think smarter, work harder and ensure it does not disconnect with customers as it struggles to maintain itself as a leader in the VOIP space.